Courtesy The Hindu

FitsAir — a Sri Lankan based private airline — is looking at possibilities to operate services from Colombo to key destinations in south India by the end of 2023, the airlines vice-president (Passenger) Peter Murray Hill said here on Friday.

The airline has narrowed down on five destinations – Thiruvananthapuram, Chennai, Coimbatore, Kochi and Madurai to expand its operations in south India next year, Mr. Peter Hill told reporters here.  Mr. Peter Hill was in Tiruchi to announce the launch of the airline’s direct flight services from Colombo to Tiruchi and back.

FitsAir had chosen Tiruchi in south India to launch its direct flight services on the Colombo – Tiruchi – Colombo sector from December 8 onwards, he said. We chose Tiruchi because there is a good patronage from the city to Sri Lanka”. 

The airline will operate the services on the Colombo – Tiruchi – Colombo sector on Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays to begin with and explore the possibility of making it a daily service depending on the patronage, Mr. Hill said.  The airline also has plans to start services from Tiruchi to Jaffna and on the Chennai – Jaffna sector next year using ATR – 72 aircraft.

Mr. Peter Hill said FitsAir, which had for long been in cargo operations, decided a year ago to venture into the passenger market. The airline was presently operating overseas services on the Colombo – Dubai and Colombo – Male sectors three times a week.  The airline also has plans to launch services from Colombo to overseas destinations in the Far East in the next 18 months, he added.